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Congregants 'swarm' to raise kingdom hall

By Jack Minch, jminch@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
05/31/2014 07:32:52 AM EDT

LEOMINSTER -- It's like a good, old-fashioned barn raising from the old days, but this time members of the Jehovah's Witnesses are gathering to build a 6,100-square-foot kingdom hall at 1275 Central St.

Church members from around New England, New York and as far as Texas started construction this week and plan to be done by June 22. More than 100 were expected to be on site today.

The new kingdom hall includes about 5,200 square feet for worship and about 800 square feet for an itinerant minister's apartment.

Jehovah's Witnesses are building a new 6,100 square foot Kingdom Hall at 1275 Central St. in Leominster.
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"So we have four really packed weeks of activity, then the building will be finished," said Grant Garcia, an elder in the Central Street congregation and chairman of the Regional Building Committee in charge of building churches around New England.

That will give time to spend a week or so finishing punch-list items and commissioning the building before holding its first assembly, Garcia said.

The committee has led construction of 51 churches in all New England states except Maine.

There are 1,300 volunteers on the committee, though not all of them work on each project.

The strategy of swarming a construction site to finish a kingdom hall quickly is used around the world but originated in New England in the 1980s, said committee spokesman Rob Nicoll, of Worthington.

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Volunteers are church members who are in the construction trade or have been trained to help the professionals. Garcia makes solid surface fabrications, including counter tops.

Mike Shiel was a software engineer for 32 years but retired so he could spend time volunteering with the construction committee.

"It's so exciting and shows it's not just about the skills of the workers but the attitude," Shiel said.

Jehovah's Witnesses are building a new 6,100 square foot kingdom hall at 1275 Central St. in Leominster. They were trying to beat the rain on Friday and get a lot done. Rob Nicoll, news service coordinator for the project, is one of the many volunteers involved from all over the Northeast and Texas.
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Timothy Sideris, of Leominster, coordinates personnel for the committee, coordinating issues such as when they work and temporary housing.

We have volunteers coming from seven regions around the Northeast and Texas," Sideris said.

There are 137 regions in the country.

"The value of the building is in excess of $1 million, but it's far less to put up because of the free labor," Garcia said.

"This building is quite unusual because it's a net-zero building," Garcia said.

Foundation work began in November when about 2 miles of geothermal piping was laid in the ground, Garcia said.

The building will also rely on photovoltaic solar power.

The kingdom hall will be plain by standards of other religions.

"It's like a classroom except the seats are designed for comfort so you can sit there several hours," Garcia said.

Church members normally meet twice a week, once either on Saturday or Sunday, then once during the workweek. They also have their door-to-door ministry.

Jehovah's Witnesses have been in the region since the late 1800s and built a kingdom hall at 700 Lancaster St. in 1961 but sold the building last year.

The congregation outgrew the Lancaster Street kingdom hall and has been worshiping at a kingdom hall at 130 North St. since the sale.

There are five congregations worshiping at the North Leominster hall now with about 500 members, so the new church will take pressure off the building, Garcia said.

Two congregations will worship at the Central Street kingdom hall, including the Leominster Central Congregation of about 160 members and the Leominster Spanish Congregation of about 70 members, he said.

We've been really pleased with the cooperation we got from the city," Garcia said.

Various offices such as the Building and Fire departments worked with the church to match and exceed city codes.

"We want to go on record expressing gratitude for the way the city has cooperated with us," Garcia said.

When the Central Street kingdom hall is done, the committee will move on to Holyoke, where it plans to build a kingdom hall in the fall.

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